TikTok sea shanty singer beats Ed Sheeran to top the charts

A former postman who became a viral TikTok star has landed the number one spot in The Official Big Top 40 music chart.

Nathan Evans, from Airdrie in Scotland, quit his job as a postman after kick-starting a new viral craze of sea-shantying on TikTok and signing a record deal.

His song Wellerman is the new number one in the chart, with a remix of the song by 220 KID and Billen Ted taking number three.

It beat Olivia Rodrigo's Drivers License, Ed Sheeran's Afterglow and Riton & Nightcrawlers' Friday to take the top spot.

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Mr Evans said: "Back in the day when the shanties were sung, it was to bring everybody together, to keep them all in time, to keep the morale high.

"Especially in this time when everybody's stuck at home, they're doing their remote working - they can join in, and it kind of brings everybody together.

Sea shanties are old songs which were traditionally sung by sailors, fishermen or whalers at sea.

"So I think it's just kind of brought it into this day and age. It makes it feel like you're all united. Especially seeing how creative everybody can be with it."